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The Executioner
The Executioner has his place, but that place probably shouldn’t be in a new player’s starting army. His attack does 1 damage but, like many other pieces, his defense action creates a way to alter that. The Executioner’s defense action takes a bit to understand fully. Upon utilizing his defensive action, the Executioner enters judgment mode. Judgment mode lasts for either 4 turns, if the Executioner is attacked or if he successfully enters blust mode. In judgment mode, the Executioner’s attack actions are delayed 2 turns (1 full round) but, if he manages to kill anyone while in judgment mode, the Executioner will go into blust mode, where he gains +2 movement and +1 damage for 7 turns! This means he will be matched with the Thief in movement (3 spaces), matched with the Knight for attack power (but at reduced action cost over the 7 turns) and matched with the Pikeman for attack range all while sporting 4 health for 7 turns. Now that ain’t bad! Entering blust mode also reduces charge times for the Executioner by 2; meaning he can not be delayed in attacking by a Priest's curse and he can also engage judgement mode again without suffering the 2 turn delay effect. When using Executioners, if you were paying close attention to the paragraph above, you’ll have noticed the problem is his delayed attack action penalty while in judgment mode. This delay makes it very hard to get the Executioner into blust mode by attacking the enemy, especially because the Executioner’s judgment mode can be broken through attacking him, causing the Executioner to be continually reset. So, in order to utilize the Executioner well, it’s going to take some sacrifice. By using your own pieces to feed your Executioner’s blood lust, you can easily unlock his blust mode. This feature is why the Executioner typically does not make a good starting piece. When you begin playing Oldage, you will not have enough gold to buy more than 1 or 2 units to accompany your King/Queen and, at the least, you will need 4 units; your King/Queen, Executioner, a 2 health sacrificial lamb (like a Priest) and a Bishop to keep reviving the sacrificial lamb so you can continually enter blust mode, should you need to in order to start to properly exploit the Executioner’s defense ability. For the record, the Executioner benefits greatly from being boosted by the King’s/Queen’s defense ability. The King’s/Queen’s defense action negates the delayed action penalty brought upon by the Executioner entering judgment mode so, in this way; the Executioner can be charged by your King/Queen, use its defense action and kill a 2 health unit all in 1 turn; poised to head out in blust mode for the next 7 turns! When playing against the Executioner, it should be obvious it is important to keep him from entering blust mode but a Shieldmaiden doesn’t have much to worry about even if the Executioner does enter blust mode if she is utilized well and a Knight, if used well will escape with 1 health while killing the Executioner in the process even if the Executioner is in blust mode and attacks him first. Everyone else will want to do their best to keep the Executioner from entering blust mode however because it is big trouble for them if he does.